296 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 



Senator Woortbnry, in a letter to the secretary of tlie institution, 

 expressed liiniself strongly in faver of making tlie society tlic iigent 

 of the Government in tlie matter of caring for collections, i)atents, and 

 copyrights, and also in the execution of the Smithson trust. 



John Quincy Adams closed his address in these words: 



I avail myself of this occasion to express my regret that, having 

 taken an huml)le part in the establishment of this Institution from its 

 first foundation, under the auspices of Mr. Poinsett, 1 have been able 

 to contribute so little to its promotion and advantage, and to add my 

 heartfelt satisfaction at the i)rosperity which, by the untiring exertions 

 and fervid zeal of its executive officers, it has attained. I l)elieve it 

 eminently deserving of the fostering care and liberal patronage of the 

 Congress of the United States, and could anticipate no happier close to 

 my public life than to contribute, by my voice and by my vote, to 

 record the sanction of the nation's munificence to sustain the National 

 Institute devoted to the cause of science. 



The Hon. Eichard Rush, in a paper on " The Smithsonian Bequest," 

 submitted to this meeting, urged that the Smithsonian fund should be 

 " engrafted upon the National Institute," and submitted an elaborate 

 argument in favor of his proposal. 



It was a gala week for the National Institution. The meeting was 

 in every respect a success, and there was every reason to believe that 

 Congress would share in the general enthusiasm, and take the society 

 under its patronage. 



In the circular of invitation dated March 5, 1843, the objects of the 

 meeting as a means of strengthening the position of the society had 

 been boldly stated, and the committee did not hesitate to say that 

 " should the meeting prove as successful as the hoi)es of the managers 

 in relation to it are ardent, they will expect liereafter to welcome all 

 who may visit the association in apartments peculiar to itself, stored 

 with the objects of its honest pride and worthy of its distinguished 

 visitors." 



Such a paper signed by such influential names as tliose of John C. 

 Spencer, Secretary of the Treasury, E. J. \\ alker, W. (3. Eives, Eufus 

 Choate, of the Senate, J. E. Ingersoll and W. C. Preston, of the House 

 of Eepresentatives, A. B. Bache, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, 

 and Abbott Lawrence, of Boston, was surely a powerful campaign 

 document. 



None the less weighty was the '* Memorial of the Friends of Science 

 who attended the April meeting of the National Institute," signed by 

 nearly forty representative scientific men and college presidents from 

 all parts of the United States, speaking in terms of high commendation 

 of the National Institute, and particularly of the extent and value of 

 its museum material, and expressing the hope '' that the enlightened 

 and intelligent members of Congress will distinguish the ])resent ses- 

 sion by the appropriation of funds to an object so truly national and so 

 truly republican. 



